


Rescue

by pearlsongrey



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, LIKE A LOT OF ANGST
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 00:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9937547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearlsongrey/pseuds/pearlsongrey
Summary: (AU post 4x10) What if Radcliffe hadn't had May re-live Bahrain? What if he realized the best way to keep her occupied was to have the Framework create an alternate reality: she is rescued by her team, over and over, and each time the loop resets right as she beginning to feel safe. May starts to catch on to this false reality, but when the team rescues her for real, will she be able to trust any of them?





	1. Chapter One

          There was something sharp sticking into the back of her hand. May opened her eyes blearily, acutely aware of the headache pounding behind her eyelids. The room swam into focus, white walls and metal tables and medical instruments laid out in a careful precision. As she tried to move, May noticed that she was restrained by some sort of straps around her wrist. There was an uncomfortable pressure on her face, and she could now see that there was an IV in the back of her hand.   
          She felt her heart rate increase, and quickly tried to calm her breathing. _Radcliffe._ He was here, he was the one who had done this, and if she knew that then she knew where she was. She knew his weaknesses.   
           Slowly, trying to keep her heart rate and breathing under control, May searched the room for something that would help her get out of there. There was a table of medical instruments, about 4 feet to her left. It seemed a little too fortuitous, in the situation, but maybe Aida had been careless. She could think about the implausibility of the circumstances later. Right now, she had to get out of there.   
          A few minutes and some painstakingly quiet maneuvering later,  May was out of the restraints with only a few cuts on her hands. She crept towards the door of the room, steps silent on the tiled floor. On the other side of the door, everything seemed quiet. Even pausing for a moment, ear pressed to the wooden surface, May couldn't detect any movement. She stayed still, hand resting on the cold metal handle. Maybe they had gone out. It was unlikely, she knew, both of them leaving at the same time to give her a window of escape. May listened for another moment. The silence, now, was almost deafening, tantalizing with the promise of a noiseless escape. She turned the handle, feeling her heartbeat rise with every increment of a centimeter it moved. Breathing softly, muscles tense, May peered through the crack in the doorway. She scanned the room. It was empty.

          Years of training kept her body still as unease wormed its way through her veins. It was a trap. It had to be. It wouldn't be this easy, otherwise. She took a small step forward, placing herself just in front of the doorway, and closed the door softly behind her. Still, no movement came from the rest of the room. May took another step forward. And just as she did, a fist grabbed her hair and something sharp cut into her side.  _ Too good to be true. She should have known.  _ But she would berate her lack of common sense later. Now, she felt her training instincts kick in. This was all she could think about. 

          She reacted on instinct, spinning around and raising an arm to block the next blow that was surely coming in one fluid motion. Aida, impractical as ever in her neatly starched grey suit and heels, somehow still managed to execute another perfect roundhouse kick, this one high and heading for May’s face. May would have to figure out how she did that, later. It probably had something to do with the robot DNA. Her forearm blocked the kick easily, barely feeling the blow as she took a step back and squared off into a fighting stance. 

          “Agent May.” Eerily calm and formal, Aida swept a strand of hair back from her face, still advancing. She held a kitchen knife in her hand, glistening in the lamplight and slightly stained with May’s blood. “You seem to not be following my orders. I thought that I told you not to leave. You really shouldn't disobey.” She launched another slice of the knife at May, who ducked at the last minute, backing up as quickly as Aida was advancing.

          “Sorry,” May grunted, swooping forward for a quick jab and then bobbing out of the way of retaliation. “I tend not to take orders from people who keep me locked in a cabinet.”

          “You must understand, it's for your own good,” said Aida calmly, seeming almost to believe her own words. She threw another punch at May’s head, but May blocked it, landing a heavy kick on Aida’s side. The LMD stumbled, but continued to advance. “Doctor Radcliffe only wants-” 

          But what Radcliffe wanted, May would never find out, because at that moment an explosion shook the room and the door burst open. Pieces of wood and metal and shrapnel sliced through the air, and May was knocked to the ground. Her head smacked the floor, and her vision blurred for a moment. Then it cleared, and along with it the smoke that had filled the room, and May saw the outline of three figures in the doorway.

          She rose to her feet unsteadily, stepping aside as Mack’s large figure rushed past her, to where Aida had been. There were sounds of a scuffle, and then the unmistakable  _ bang _ of an icer. Vision more clear now, May’s gaze came to rest on Phil among the debris. She took a few steps forward. 

          “May,” said Phil, an almost unconscious smile breaking out over his previously somber features.

          “Coulson,” May said shortly, collapsing into one of Radcliffe’s kitchen chairs and peeling back the thin layer of her t-shirt to examine the cut on her side. 

          “What?” Phil grinned. “No thank you?” 

          “I had the situation under control,” May said. She’d been quite clear (many times, in fact, almost always) that she didn't need to be rescued. Phil didn't reply, just raised his eyebrows a little and nodded. May rolled her eyes. She hated that sarcastic expression. She'd have to tell him sometime, when there wasn't so much rescuing going on. 

          “A.C., we have to get going.” Daisy’s voice came from somewhere behind Phil. “She’s not gonna be out for much longer.”

          “Right.” Coulson nodded, speaking into his earpiece next.  “Ramirez, we’ll be there in five.” May fixed him with a disparaging and slightly affronted look.

          “What?” Coulson said, not having the grace to look even slightly sorry. “We needed someone to fly the BUS while you were gone. What were we supposed to do, stay grounded for four days?” 

_           Four days?  _ May wondered.  _ Was that how long it had been? _ Externally though, heaving herself up from her seat, she only replied, “Yeah, that’d be a good start.”

          Passing her, carrying Aida’s limp form as though it was a ten-pound weight, Mack chuckled. “It's good to have you back, Agent May.” 

          Trying to cover a slight limp, following Mack, Daisy, and Phil out of Radcliffe’s flat, May felt a smile pulling at the corners of her lips.  _ It's good to be back _ , she thought. And then she reached the doorway, and everything went black.

* * *

 

          May had a pounding headache. It was the first thing she noticed. She peeled her eyes open, blinking as the white walls around her swirled into focus. She was strapped onto something, a table maybe, her wrists and ankles restrained. Her gaze flitted around the room, squinting as she tried to remember why she was there, who she was fighting. And then the memories came rushing back.  _ Radcliffe. Aida. _ May began to struggle against the restraints, heart rate already rising. She had to get out.


	2. Chapter 2

          She was remembering more and more, she knew. At first, it was just like an instinct, actions that she could predict seconds before they happened, her body telling her what to do and where to go almost unconsciously. The third, or fourth, or fifth time- she had lost track- it was a sense of deja-vu.  A feeling that this had all happened before, a sense of disquiet niggling at the back of her mind. After the deja-vu came the dream feeling, events and words and images flickering in and out of her mind like a badly-tuned radio, blurry in her elusive memories. There was something floating, out of reach, but she hadn’t quite been able to remember, like waking up from a dream and having the story disappear within seconds.

          Now, May had the memories. She didn’t quite know how many times she’d run through the scenario; she couldn’t figure out a solid way to keep track. Once, she’d tried to write herself a note, but the room seemed to revert back to some original preset every time the Framework reset itself. The Framework, that was Aida had called it, the 10th or 31st time they had fought. Then, the LMD been confident that May wouldn’t remember what she was saying, but now May wasn’t so sure she was keeping up the charade. She tried to hide the fact that she knew what was going to happen, keeping just a step ahead of Aida at all times, enough to anticipate her movements but not enough to raise suspicion. 

          The thing was, this Framework seemed to have a mind of its own. May would have been comfortable with a story that reset itself exactly the same each time, but that wasn’t the case. Every time she ran through it, something small and almost imperceptible changed. The story seemed to be reacting to May’s weaknesses. Once, Aida attacked with a fire poker instead of a knife. Another time, the door had been locked and May had had to break it down with a chair. 

          Once- and May tried not to think about this- she’d made it back to the BUS before the scenario reset and the world went dark. She’d been almost sure, that time, that it was real. She had felt Daisy’s hand, pulling her up from the floor, the rush of air as she climbed onto the BUS, the familiar hum of the engines as they lifted off the ground. She’d gotten as far as the med bay, that time, seen Simmons look up with a relieved smile, and then as quickly as if she’d been knocked out, everything faded away. 

          It was a few minutes before she woke each time, May guessed. It could have been longer, but she didn’t want to think about how many days she would have to have been there for it to be more time than that. Aida was getting suspicious, she had thought, and the last time they fought Aida had voiced May’s worst fear.

          “You’re starting to remember, Agent May.” It was said in as calm a tone as Aida ever possessed, even while launching a lamp across the room at May. May deflected it with the wooden cutting board she was holding, and realized there was no point in pretending to have forgotten anymore. 

          “Yeah,” she said as she swung a vase through the air towards Aida. “I am. And there are only so many times I can run through this before I get out of here. I’ll find a way. And when I do-” 

          “You’re not going anywhere, Agent May,” Aida interrupted coolly. One of her kicks caught May in the stomach, and everything went black. 

          It seemed to be longer before she woke this time, and when May groggily came to, there was something about the room that looked different. This was what she had been worried about. The Framework changing everything around on her once she had started to figure the first outline out. She’d hoped she could find a way out of the last scenario, if she ran through it enough; a hole in the thinly-constructed reality, or a hint as to how to wake up in the real world. If the scenario changed, even in the slightest, then she could be there for… days… weeks… May didn’t want to think about how long it had been already. 

          Slowly detaching from the many restraints- she had gotten quite skilled at it over time- May stepped down onto the floor. The tile was cold on her bare feet, and an involuntary chill shot up her spine. Pausing every few steps to strain for a sound or hint of movement, she made her way haltingly towards the door. Just as she was reaching for the handle, an enormous, resounding  _ crash _ from the next room made her halt her in steps. Moving quickly, May grabbed a surgical scalpel from Radcliffe’s desk and dove under the table. Whatever the Framework had decided to send in this time, it wasn’t going to be good.  

          She waited for a moment with bated breath, scalpel clutched in her hand, heart beating fast, as she listened to chaos reign outside the room. After the first crash, there had been several more, smaller, and in quick succession. May couldn’t hear any sign of Aida or Radcliffe, but she supposed that made sense; whatever new enemy the Framework- or Radcliffe- had decided to send in, it was best that her captors’ alternate forms didn’t get in the way. She heard shouts, muffled by the door, vaguely recognizable but in an almost dream-like way, as though she knew the voices but couldn’t quite place them. May clutched the scalpel tighter and clenched her teeth. She’d had about enough of this deja-vu crap. 

          The door opened then, slowly, and May tried to push herself further under the desk, her only hope being that she could defeat this new combatant with the element of surprise. From her thin line of vision, the top of the table to the floor, she saw a black combat boot edge into the room, and then a second as someone- whoever it was- stepped into the room fully. 

          “Agent May?” A voice called.  _ Daisy. _ May froze, more out of shock than anything else, still hidden under the table. She held her breath, mind desperately trying to think of an explanation as to why the Framework would make her fight her own team. And then it clicked. 

          It was all about keeping her inside her own head, wasn’t it? Making sure that she was preoccupied enough to never find a way to escape. More than once, Aida had confirmed these theories; when, of course, she thought that May wouldn’t remember any of what she said. But May remembered more than she let on, and apparently the Framework knew more than it let on, too. It had figured out her greatest weakness. Her team. But if she knew who her enemy was, she knew how to defeat it. It was the only way to get out, run through the scenario as many times as it took until she found a hole of escape. And everyone on the team had some sort of weakness, too. Phil, Mack, Fitz, Simmons. Even Daisy.

          May slid out from under the table slowly, rising almost soundlessly to her feet and curling her hand around the scalpel for a better grip.  _ Go for the element of surprise _ , her training told her, and she did. She threw herself at Daisy- the Daisy copy, she reminded herself, it wasn’t really Daisy- whose back was still turned from her. The scalpel sunk into her opponent’s shoulder, and the Other Daisy let out a cry of pain and surprise. The girl spun around, eyes landing on May with a look of bewilderment. 

          “May?” She yelped, bringing a hand almost disjointedly up to her shoulder, which was bleeding profusely. “May, what the hell? What’s going on?” The Other Daisy asked, words choppy with shock and pain. 

          May ignored her, circling the room and looking for another point of vulnerability. “May?” the Other Daisy said again, now holding her good arm out in a half-shielding and half-surrendering position. “You’re safe now. Coulson is here, too. What are you doing?” But May had already formulated another plan of attack, and she launched herself into a run at the girl.  “Stop!” Daisy yelled, throwing up her arm, and May felt the wind knocked out of her as she was thrown off her feet and slammed into the opposite wall. May winced as she collapsed to the floor; she thought she heard something in her leg snap. Still, teeth gritted with pain, she struggled to her feet to face the Other Daisy again. 

          “Coulson,” the girl was screaming, and May heard pounding footsteps in the other room. Phil- it wasn’t her Phil, it was a different Phil, she had to remember that- appeared in the doorway, breathless. 

          “What’s going on?” He asked, looking from May, bracing herself against the wall, to Daisy, clutching her shoulder with one hand and warding off May with the other. Phil seemed to assess the situation almost immediately. 

          “Melinda,” he said softly, taking slow steps towards the wall where she stood. “I’m so sorry we didn’t come earlier, but we’re here now. Please put the scalpel down. You’re safe here. You’re safe now.” May wanted to believe him, was almost convinced by his low, soft, calming voice, but the words  _ ‘you’re safe now’ _ echoed throughout her mind. The same words Daisy had said, and the same words she’d heard as she was rescued over and over again. Her eyes narrowed, and she pushed herself off the wall. 

          “I’m sorry,” she growled at the Other Phil. “But you aren’t Phil Coulson.” Even with her leg nearly crumpling beneath her, May was fast, and she had made it about halfway across the room towards the Other Phil when she saw the flash of an icer. She stopped almost involuntarily, and felt, in slow motion, the impact of a stun to her chest and the way she was knocked off her feet, slower and perhaps more gracefully than before. It was in her head, she knew, it had to be, but the pain spreading throughout her chest, combined with the unexpected shock, seemed all-too-real. He had shot her. Phil Coulson had shot her.

          “I’m sorry, too.” Phil’s face swam into her blurry vision. “We’re going to figure out what happened to you. We’re going to take you home. You’re safe now.” Everything faded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you to everyone who liked and left comments on the last chapter, I hope you guys like this one, too! I'm not sure if everyone was in character, or if it all made sense, so let me know if you felt like anyone was OOC and I'll try to keep that in mind for future chapters. I'm also not completely sure where I'm going with this next, so if you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see leave a comment and let me know! I'll try to update within the next few days, but things might get a little busy with school. Thanks for reading!  
> DISCLAIMER: I own nothing associated with Marvel Entertainment or Agents of SHIELD (sadly).

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Ok… I have no idea who Ramirez is. Anyway, I had the idea for this while watching 4x10 a little while ago and just had to write it! Sorry this chapter is so short, I’m going to try to make some of the others longer. Please let me know what you think of it, and tell me if you have any suggestions.  
> Also, DISCLAIMER: I don’t own anything. Except my imagination. And any mistakes.


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